Blossoms- Roundhouse, London (Live Review)

The Roundhouse in Camden is a well known starting point for many chart topping artists (see Ed Sheeran) and was the perfect setting for Blossoms. Set in one of the UK’s musical hubs, the near sold out show featured support from Rory Wynne and Cabbage. All displayed appreciation of each other’s talent which made for a heart warming display.

One of the best parts of going to a gig are the support acts; you go to a show by an artist you’re already a fan of and come away with 2 or 3 more to listen to and love. The combination of Rory Wynne and Cabbage was a noisy and well performed set up for Blossoms.

The confidence of Rory Wynne was clear to see, not an once of nervousness was visible in his performance to a steadily filling venue. “This song is about how good I am” and “bad news: this is my last song-don’t cheer” are just some of the light-hearted, but self-assured, quotes we heard between songs.

Cabbage oozed much of the same confidence but went for a more passive aggressive approach, and “suck on our Northern balls” was an example that springs to mind. The group appeared to gel well, switching between two main singers and swapping guitars as they flowed across the stage. A display of classic punk rock saw one lead singer remove his t-shirt, while the other sat cocksure on a chair in the middle of the stage, all making for an entertaining performance.

Hidden within a cloud of fog Blossoms snuck onto stage to the soundtrack of Kanye West’s ‘Black Skinhead’. Jumping straight in with one of their more popular tracks ‘Almost a kiss’ set a wave of electric through the audience which lasted for the whole 16 track set. A stage set up so impressive that the likes of Mark Ronson would be green with envy. Blossoms had gone from being the small support act to the headline stars and they made the most of it.

An elaborate lighting set up also engulfed the group of five, all positioned neatly on the stage with their own space to perform. A majority of their debut album Blossoms was played during night, and we heard songs such as ‘Blow’, ‘Cut me and I’ll bleed’ and ‘Smashed Pianos’. An interlude featuring the lead guitarist’s dad playing keyboard showed that musical talent clearly runs in these boy’s blood. The singles with more chart success were clear fan favourites: ‘Blown Rose’, ‘Honey Sweet’ and their final song of the night ‘Charlemagne’ were expertly played and bellowed back in return. They packed out the Roundhouse with an excited and heaving audience, filling it even further with the sound of their music and the roar of the crowd lapping it up.

Blossoms proved themselves to be an incredibly polite band, taking time to applaud each member of the group separately as well as both support acts and the crowd themselves. “Do you mind if we slow it down a bit?” asked lead singer Tom Ogden, to me suggesting that they’re still not adjusted to their impending success, which just makes me appreciate their skilled performance even more. They were enjoyable to watch and hear and even more so knowing how much they appreciate and respect not only each other but their fans too.